Ep 52: Barron Wenham on Cosmology and Astrophysics in the Mind of a Super Smart Kid

Send us a textThis is a rather special episode, and something of a delightful experiment.  Barron Wenham is on of the smartest and most well-informed 10-year-olds you are ever likely to encounter - especially on the subjects of particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology.  As an exercise in exploring big ideas, mind-blowing science and science fictional creative invention, Marty sat down with him to discuss the birth of the universe, the balance of matter and anti-matter, as well as some of the things we discussed with Dr. David Curtin in episodes 30 and 31 on Dark Matter.  We also cover the black holes, white holes, the standard model of particle physics - right down to neutrinos and strange quarks - and Barron explains the theory of strange matter, which is a real thing! Barron also presents his own cosmological model that accounts for the accelerating expansion of the universe as well as the balance of matter and antimatter, and also his theory of super-matter in a brain-structured universe.Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textMarty speaks with Dr. Henry Erlich, whose research career gave him a front seat to the development of DNA sequencing technology from its infancy in the 80’s, to the development of forensic applications in the criminal justice system in the 90’s and through to it’s maturity in Next Generation Sequencing methods now used to study evolutionary biology and the deep history of human and hominid evolution. His book is called 'Genetic Reconstruction of the Past - DNA analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution ', and its unifying theme is how we can now use DNA sequencing technology to study historical events, from the recent past in the case of forensic investigation of crimes, to the ancient past in studies of fossil remains to understand the evolution of the human species and the relationships among contemporary and extinct populations.  We talk about the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), detecting sequence and length polymorphism, how DNA tests are used to identify individuals in forensic investigations, how they can be used to track relationships among human populations both ancient and contemporary, and how what we've learned using this technology may help us grow bigger, better, faster brains in our science fictional future.Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textMarty talks to Alan Smale, a professional astronomer and author of hard science fiction, alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, and horror. We talk to him about his most recent book 'Hot Moon' - an alternate history set in 1979 where the USSR won the space race to land the first man on the moon, changing the balance of power during the cold war and accelerating the space race to push both the Americans and the Soviets to have permanent moon bases, orbiting space stations, and manned spy satellites.  We talk about the kind of warfare that would have been possible with the technology available following the first moon landings, what happens when you shoot a bullet in space, the geopolitics of the cold war as well as relations with Russia today.  We also discuss spy-craft in space, whether there may be a hidden base on the far side of the moon, and Alan also tells us a little about his research career at NASA studying X-rays from black hole binaries and other extreme space events, and how that research translates to applications on earth. Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textHolly and Marty speak with science fiction author Micaiah Johnson about her absolutely incredible 'Ashtown' duology.  This isn't really an episode about the Multiverse so much as it is about the deeply human and social themes in Micaiah's books, whose writing is laden with literary pearls and deeply human insights about complex characters, social and economic structures, and the interplay between science and spirituality. She uses science fiction as a lightning rod for discourse of social dynamics, power and justice, privilege and grace and ambition. We talk about choosing your monsters, the vacuous rich and the authenticity of the poor, community care, and crying from beauty, with stories about allowing people the chance to to love you in the way that you love them, and how giving and receiving are two sides of the same miracle.https://www.micaiahjohnson.com/Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textMarty and Holly speak for a second time with Mike Carey in the first installment on our new topic: The Multiverse.  Mike has written comics for many big titles in both the DC and Marvel universes, and has also written 19 books including his most recent 'The Pandominion' duology which is comprised of 'Infinity Gate' and 'Echo of Worlds'.  The idea of parallel universes arises from an interpretations of quantum mechanics which posits that the wavefunction never actually collapses, just branches into new, independent universes for every possible outcome. It’s a mind-boggling idea offering rich and unique narrative possibilities for science fiction.  We discuss some of the ideas which support the existence of the Multiverse, dark matter, the evolutionary history of alternate worlds, colonialism and slavery, sentience and necropolitics.Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textMarty speaks with Hollywood writer and director James Kerwin about Quantum Consciousness in his sci-fi film noir ‘Yesterday Was a Lie’, as well as in Robert J. Sawyer's books 'Quantum Night' and 'The Downloaded.  We do a bit of a deep dive into the role of consciousness in the foundations of quantum mechanics, discussing the Copenhagen interpretation, the Many Worlds theory, and the Penrose/Hameroff Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory.  We go all the way from the quantum superposition of subatomic particles to the possible emergence of collective consciousness, and the possibility of consciousness playing a central role in creating objective reality.  We also talk about James’ favorite books and movies, as well as his current project – a new film he is developing called Contre-Coup.James Kerwin:Webpage:https://www.jameskerwin.com/Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_KerwinFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/jameskerwin/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thejameskerwin/IMDB:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0450123/Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textRobert J. Sawyer is one of the world’s science fiction luminaries, and a great source of Canadian pride as one of our most prolific, successful and decorated science fiction authors.  In the following conversation Rob discusses his book 'Quantum Night', which explores the social and philosophical consequences of an empirical test for consciousness, self-awareness and conscience.  He tells us about the science of evil i.e. the science of psychopathy, and we discuss philosophical zombies as well as the very timely political consequences of blind followers and psychopathic demagogues. We also talk about the disappointing and negative effects of artificial intelligence, the multi-dimensional landscape of the human psyche, and the use of science fiction as an early warning system for the future.https://www.sfwriter.com/Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textDaniel H. Wilson has a PhD in robotics and is the author of the non-fiction books ‘How to Survive a Robot Uprising’, ‘How to Build a Robot Army’ and ‘Where’s my Jetpack’, as well as the bestselling science fiction novels ‘Robopocalypse’ and its sequel ‘Robogenesis’, ‘The Clockwork Dynasty’, and most recently ‘The Andromeda Evolution’ - the authorized sequel to Michael Crichton’s 'The Andromeda Strain'.  We talk about how he came to inherit Michael Crichton's mantle and be chosen to write 'The Andromeda Evolution', discussing Planetary Protection as well as the biotech/nanotech crossover in material science in this book.  We also consider Artificial Intelligence, First Contact, and the more human and cultural themes in his recent work, especially in his short story ‘The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever’ and his upcoming book ‘Heliopause’, which gives an indigenous perspective on First Contact with an alien intelligence.  Finally, we talk about the Western reductionist perspective compared with a more indigenous approach to science, with biomimetic strategies of studying systems embedded in their natural context, as well as developing respect and comfort with the unknown.Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textThis is our fourth and final episode on the theme of Sci-Fi Fungi, where we dig a little deeper into the current science and future science of mycology with Dr. Alex Moskaluk, a mycologist and professor of biology at the University of Guelph.  She specializes in zoonotic fungi, fungal pathogens that can jump from animals to humans and vice versa.  We discuss how fungi are evolving resistance to antifungal treatments in much the same way as bacteria are developing antibiotic resistance, developing mechanisms for evading the human immune system, and learning to specialize in human infection. So basically continuing along our apocalyptic sci-fi themes… did you know that some fungi can kill you by growing abscesses into your brain!?  But on the brighter side, we also talk about some cool science fictional possibilities these organisms may offer us in the future: some fungi can absorb radiation and could be used to shield space ships and extraterrestrial colonies from space radiation!  They can break down moon regolith or rock on other planets to make soil and building materials.  And it seems we are just scratching the surface of even more amazing capabilities – like actually reducing the radioactivity of disaster sites like Chernobyl by… well, you can’t do that with plain old chemistry so, are they somehow capable of inducing nuclear reactions?  Can we create future super-materials one day, like fungal Kevlar or a fungal cable for space elevators?  Just a few of the crazy ideas that came out of this conversation, in the finest tradition of digging deeper into the science in the fiction.https://ovc.uoguelph.ca/pathobiology/people/faculty/alex-moskaluk/Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/

Send us a textMarty speaks with Kaitlyn Kuehn (KK), creator and host of the Flora Funga Podcast, discussing recent developments in real world applications of fungi, and speculating about the possible roles fungi may play in our science fictional future.  We discuss their use as recreational drugs, and the current regulatory and legalization landscape.  We talk about creating new materials from fungi, from making bricks in space to creating new green materials for packaging, hats and shoes on earth.  We consider fungi in water efficient vertical farming, using yeasts and molds as pesticides, and if they might be helpful in farming insects for as a source of protein. And finally, we do a bit of science fictional thinking about Fungi as a possible agent of panspermia for seeding life on new worlds, creating ecological footholds on dead planets, and as a catalyst for biodiversity.  https://www.florafungapodcast.com/We touch on a couple FF episodes in this interview:Ep 135 with Chris Pauli from Tryptomics:https://www.florafungapodcast.com/florafungapodcast/135Ep 77 with Adam Cobb from the Soil Food Web Schoolhttps://www.florafungapodcast.com/florafungapodcast/77Email: [email protected]: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743522660965257/